Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Purchased by Unison Advisors LLC

Unison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 955 shares during the period. Unison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $54,026,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,688,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,789 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter worth $28,649,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 2,549.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 719,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,413,000 after buying an additional 692,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd grew its stake in Lincoln National by 122.5% during the 1st quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 861,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,582,000 after acquiring an additional 474,171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $29.59. The stock had a trading volume of 967,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,735,078. Lincoln National Co. has a twelve month low of $20.85 and a twelve month high of $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.84.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 12.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.08%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 24.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 55,127 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.57, for a total value of $1,795,486.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,457,165.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on LNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Lincoln National Company Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Annuities, Group Protection, and Retirement Plan Services. The Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, universal life insurance (UL), indexed universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance (VUL), linked-benefit UL and VUL products, and critical illness and long-term care riders.